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The City Assessor is responsible for the assessment process including: (1) Discovering all real and personal property that is subject to tax unless exempted by law; (2) Listing all property characteristics used to determine value; and (3) Valuing all property subject to property tax. Creating and maintaining an accurate assessment roll (list of all taxable property: address, value, and owner) fulfills the first requirement. Sustaining property record cards with correct characteristics and information satisfies the second requirement. Accurate valuation, the final requirement, entails estimating the market value of all locally assessable property in the City. These values are used when establishing property taxes in December.

In Madison, all property is valued annually at 100% of market value as of January 1. For the purpose of taxation, property falls into two categories: real estate and personal property. Within these broad categories, there are several delineations of property. Real estate includes single family homes, condominiums, apartment buildings, commercial, and agricultural properties. Personal property consists of furniture, fixtures, and other types of property used in the course of business or commerce. Real estate and personal property are assessed by the City Assessor and represent approximately 98% of the property tax base. The remaining 2% of the tax base is manufacturing property valued by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

Real Estate Changes
Locally assessed real estate increased 10.9% for 2022. Commercial assessments increased 12.9% ($11,550 to $13,266 million) and residential assessments increased 11.4% ($20,119 to $22,699 million).

Personal Property Changes
Locally assessed personal property assessments decreased by $5 million between 2021 and 2022. This represents a 0.5% decrease from $591 to $586 million.

Manufacturing Assessments
Manufacturing full value assessments prepared by the State are available on the WI DOR website. Last year these assessments totaled $462 million
 ($388 million on real estate and $74 million on personal property).

Recap of Local Changes
A report is available including tables that focus on the compositions and rates of locally assessed real estate growth.

Contacts